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I was at baggage claim in San Francisco airport in November
2008, just about to embark on my first visit to the city, when I received a
call from my agent, Matt Johnson, telling me that Huw Owen from the production
company Something Else had been in touch requesting an Essential Mix from me
for Pete Tong’s BBC Radio 1 show. December 13th had originally been
suggested as the date of broadcast, but in the end we settled on January 17th,
with delivery requested 5 days earlier on the 12th.

Very sad to hear the news of club promoter Derren Smart’s untimely passing last weekend. Derren was someone I only got to know during recent years, initially when I appeared at his ‘A Night With…’ event, where I played for 8 hours on a memorable occasion at London’s Loft Studios in October 2012. I subsequently appeared at his Berlin equivalent ‘Eine Nacht Mit…’ at Kantine Am Berghain last December.

When my agent, Matt Johnson, booked me in for ‘A Night With…’, I hadn’t realised that it did exactly what it said on the tin, namely present just the one DJ for the full 8 hours the venue was open. I generally play for either 2 or 3 hours, with the odd 4 hour slot along the way – the only times I can recall playing longer (since I started out again), was a night at The Key in London back in 2005, and then the Credit To The Edit launch parties, both Sunday All-Dayers held at a couple of East End boozers (The Dolphin in 2005 and The Horse & Groom in 2009), so, as you can imagine, it came as a bit of a shock when the penny dropped and I realised that I’d unwittingly signed up for a marathon, but I quickly warmed to the idea and began to ponder the possibilities it presented.

Upcoming Dates

UPCOMING DATES CANCELLED OR POSTPONED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE WILL UPDATE WHEN POSSIBLE

Take care & stay safe out there

Being a DJ

I’m a DJ from Merseyside. I started out in 1975, but stopped for almost 20 years, between 1984 and the end of 2003, at which point I started again.

One night during the period I wasn’t deejaying, turning off my mind, relaxing, and floating downstream I had what might be termed a moment of clarity. Paradoxically, although I was no longer a DJ in the literal sense I suddenly became aware that I’d never actually stopped being a DJ, for even if I was in a room with just one person I couldn’t help but ask them ‘have you heard this?’, and not only ‘heard’, but ‘have you seen this / read this?’, for it goes beyond music. Already taken somewhat aback by this nugget of self-discovery, I realised, in true eureka style, that this all pre-dates my being a DJ and goes back as far as I can remember – I’ve always had an inherent need to share, it’s absolutely central to my nature. This was quite a revelation.

So it’s no wonder that I became a Disc Jockey, for once I fell in love with those circular pieces of magical plastic during my formative years, it wasn’t a matter of choosing this as a path, the path pretty much chose me.

I don’t intend this to be a DJ blog as such, but more a blog by someone who happens to be a DJ – a place where personal emphasis takes precedence over professional, although, as I’ve already explained, the two aspects are, of course, inescapably entwined.